Searchlight
by dianaameade2
Summary: Jace and Clary, alone in the auditorium. Alec meets Magnus, the new boy with the nice legs. Simon and Maia's not so messy break up; alot can happen after hours, but you never expect to see your school PA shot point blank. It started with a murder. Then an injured friend. But will the innocent survive, or will the good die young? AU/AH Clace/Sizzy?Malec
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1: The Beginning**

Clary squealed as a pile of fluorescent fabric fluttered onto her from a shelf above as she pulled a costume from the pile. She groaned at the mess, picking each piece up and folding it carefully; Isabelle, her drama partner, had asked her to pick up a number of costumes from backstage in the auditorium; sure, it meant staying after school to try and navigate the maze that was the drama departments cubbies of old costumes, but Isabelle _had_ volunteered to research Queen Anne in the library after hours, so she wasn't complaining.

Gathering the costumes that she had picked Clary closed the closet door and made her way to the stage, trying to hold the clothes in her arm. Her backpack felt heavy on her back, and she pulled out her phone to text Simon; he was her designated driver, but he was currently having an ongoing argument with his girlfriend, so she knew she would have to hang out for a while.

Soft music began to play, and Clary smiled curiously as she made her way to the front of the stage; she thought she was the only person, but apparently not. Smiling at the lilting tune she walked out from the curtains and was met with the sight of four hundred empty seats, and Jace Herondale at the grand piano.

"Hi." She said quietly, and the boy in front of her looked up and grinned.

"Hey short stuff- what are you doing here?" He asked, and Clary tried not to swoon at the dimple, or the chipped front incisor that showed when he smiled. Jace was the kind of boy you see in movies, cocky and unbelievably good looking. He was Izzy's brother, and in most of Clary's classes, and Clary had been kind of in love with him for three years. But who's counting.

Clary held up the armful of costumes, shrugging.

"Izzy and I are doing our drama assignment Renaissance style." Clary said and Jace laughed.

"God, I hated drama." Jace said, and Clary dropped her bag and the clothes to the floor, pocketing her phone and moving to sit beside him on the piano stool.

"You're so good at this, though." Clary said, tapping a key lightly. She could feel the heat from his body next to her and she tilted her head as he began to play properly. "See!" She laughed as his runs got faster, stretching his arms across hers to reach the higher notes. Clary felt herself laughing- the kind of laugh that comes put when you're trying not to ugly laugh, but you can't help it. Jace grinned at her, and she gripped the stool. His face was too perfect, bright eyes, sculpted jawline, tanned skin. He was so popular but still always talked to her like they were proper friends, always complimenting her and asking her about her life. He was the nicest guy- despite his somewhat arrogant attitude. He stopped playing, turning to her.

"A little birdie told me you got accepted to your first choice college…" Jace said quietly, and Clary blushed.

"They sent me the letter about interviews but,… yeah, I got in! Royal College of Art, England here I come. That is, if I get the full ride."

"That's amazing, and you know you will. I don't think I've ever met anyone so talented." Jace said, running a hand through his hair. Clary's eyes widened, trying not to blush harder.

"Yeah, right." Clary sighed. "I never asked- where did you apply to college? Did you apply…?"

Jace grinned at the subtlety, and Clary could have sworn he blushed.

"Well, you aren't gonna believe this but I applied to a tech college, and I got a scholarship as long as I agree to play in their orchestra." Jace said, and Clary grinned, squeezing his arm.

"Why wouldn't I believe that?!" She asked, surprised, and Jace smiled a blinding grin.

"The college- it's in London." Jace laughed, and Clary blanched.

"No way." She said.

"Way."

"How… how did I not know this? You would think Izzy would have told me her brother was going to end up in the same city as me. This is so crazy." Clary said, and Jace laughed.

"I just didn't want anyone to know until I was sure- the guys on the team would think I was such a pansy if they knew."

"Not that you care or anything…" Clary laughed, and Jace dipped his head.

"Sure." He replied, and Clary felt him shuffle closer. "You know, I'm glad we are gonna be able to see each other. There's… look, there's something I have to tell you. And I know my timing is a bit off considering I've waited three years, but-"

Jace was cut off by a loud bang coming from outside the auditorium; he frowned, along with Clary, who was hoping that Jace was about to ask her to marry him, and looked around; they were still alone in the auditorium, but they could see vaguely out of the front door into the school reception area, where the lady from the office was talking to someone.

"What was that?" Clary asked, turning around. "Sounded like…"

And as they watched, the man that stood before the receptionist shot her twice, blood splattering surreally across the office windows. The sound rang out in an echoing cacophony, and Clary gasped in shock. Before she could react Jace was on his feet, practically carrying her behind him as he sprinted across the stage, ducking them behind the curtain; he was breathing heavily, eyes wide in shock, and it wasn't until Clary recognised his hand over her mouth did she realise she was screaming.

She sucked in a breath through her nose and tried to calm her erratic heartbeat, clutching onto Jace's shirt with one hand. She pulled his hand carefully from her mouth, clutching it. She sucked in a breath softly, trying to listen for footsteps.

"Is this a shooting?" She asked, voice shaking. He shook his head, jaw set.

"It's after hours… and there's four guys, in uniform. I don't… I don't think this is a shooting. I think they're looking for something, or trying to send a message." He whispered.

"By killing a receptionist!" Clary tried not to panic. The auditorium was silent now, and Clary pushed Jace off slightly to step back and look behind the curtain.

"There's no one there." Clary whispered, but immediately pushed herself and Jace further back into the curtain as she spotted someone by the door, their mask clad face not quite as shocking as the large gun he held in his hand.

"Go back. Back!" She hissed at Jace, pushing him behind the curtain and backstage. They found themselves back at the costume closet, and Clary began emptying it out.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jace hissed, keeping watch. Clary huffed.

"There's a door at the back of this- it leads to the north stairway- we can get to the library." Clary said, frantically throwing clothes on the floor as silently as she could.

"Clary just stop- we can… I don't know…"

"Jace, the only back way out of this place from the second floor is the library. And... Simon is in the library. So is Izzy." She said solemnly. Jace's face paled.

"How can I help?"

.….\\.../…

"Oh, hey- you dropped this." Alec said quietly, picking up a plastic bottle of… lotion? He laughed, handing it to the only other guy in the locker room. Only, he tried not to drop it when he saw the guy before him; he was tall, insanely hot, and wearing the strangest pair of pants Alec had ever seen.

"Are… those tights?" Alec asked, it slipping out before he could stop himself. "I'm sorry." He said, blushing.

"No- don't be." The guy said. "I'm Magnus, and you are…"

"Alec."

"Huh. Figures you'd have such a hot name." He said, winking, "And no, their leggings- for dance."

"You're a dancer?" Alec said, trying not to blush at the wink. "I've never seen you before- are you new?" Alec asked, and Magnus grinned a cat like grin.

"Yeah- I'm only here to finish off my last semester, then I'm out of this town." Magnus said with flourish, shutting his locker door. He looked Alec in the eye. "I got told to drop out of my last school because they couldn't get on board with my freewheeling bisexuality and Dr Frank-n-Furter wardrobe." He finished.

Alec swallowed at the swell of information.

"That sucks. But you'll like it here." Alec said, looking at his hands. "I mean, I _was_ the first openly gay guy here, but hey, they didn't kick me off the football team." He laughed sheepishly, and Magnus' smile widened.

"Openly gay?" He asked, and Alec shrugged.

"Recently." He said, and Magnus nodded.

"What made you come out… secret boyfriend didn't want to be secret anymore?" He asked coyly, and Alec grinned.

"No, no secret boyfriend. I just… wanted to be me. It was getting too suffocating in the closet- even if mine is clearly less adventurous than yours."

They both laughed, and Magnus found himself watching the light from the dim locker room bulbs flicker in Alec's eyes. He grinned.

And then both of them jumped at the sound of yelling; it was coming from the gym, and the shuffling noises were getting closer.

"What is that?" Magnus asked, turning to the door.

"Probably just some jocks- they get rowdy in the off season." He said, then laughed.

They both stopped at the bang that followed.

"Was that…"

"A gunshot…"

"Shit."

….

"Just tell me when you've finished talking to him." Jordan said to Eric, a nerdy kid on the basketball team that he had recruited to help him make sure that Simon and Maia broke up. It was a sucky thing to do- he knew that, but he and Maia knew that they couldn't be together unless she broke up with Simon. They wouldn't do that to him.

Eric walked out of the gym and Jordan picked up the ball, practicing his lay ups over and over until he could feel the sweat dripping down his neck. He was so frustrated with everyone, with everything at this school; the one good thing in his life was his best friend Maia, and it had taken him so long to figure out that he loved her she already had a boyfriend. Simon was the best guy, and his best friend Clary was the sweetest girl ever, and Jordan felt sick about breaking up the couple. But they were in love. The big kind, the slit your wrists without it kind. Well, not that morbid. But close.

Throwing the ball against the wall Jordan sighed in frustration, turning to go to the sports office to grab the automatic pump- but looking out of the open gymnasium doors, he saw a masked figure.

"What…" He muttered to himself, jogging to the doors. The school had never had people vandalising it, but as a senior Jordan felt obliged to kick the little punk's ass.

"Hey!" He yelled, searching the hallway. "What do you think-"

Fire.

That's what it felt like.

Like a hot knife had suddenly ripped through his chest, a blazing firework freewheeling through his body. Jordan dropped to the floor, gasping at the searing pain that ripped through him.

The son of a botch shot him; whoever it was walked past him, and through his gasps Jordan could make out the sound of him talking through a walkie talkie, the crackling static possibly just the fogginess of his brain.

The pain wasn't subsiding, but the more breaths he took the clearer his head felt. The sound of his attacker was gone, but he didn't dare scream for help. Placing a hand flat against the floor he tried to push up with his right hand, but a pain so shocking shot through him he felt his heart skip a beat.

Deciding getting up wasn't an option he scanned the doors around him- he couldn't just sit in the hallway; whoever had shot him could come back at any point to finish him off. The gym was too open, he wouldn't be safe. But the boy's locker room was right behind him.

Turning as far as he could onto his good side he began to push himself with his feet, an uncomfortable warm and wet feeling clinging to his body. He knew there was a lot of blood, but his brain couldn't process it, and he was almost positive that he had wet himself. There was no relief when he finally reached the door to the locker room, and he couldn't push the door with his left arm. Instead he used his head to push the door, exhaustion setting in.

But he didn't need to push any longer, because before he knew what was happening there was someone grabbing him by the arms and pulling him roughly into the locker room.

"Push that bench against the door." Alec said as he dragged Jordan into the locker room, and Magnus rushed to comply, pushing two benches against the door, stacking them for good measure.

"Kyle… Kyle, can you hear me?" Alec asked, too shocked to panic. He lay Jordan's head on a stack of towels, moving to grab the first aid kit from Magnus. "Jordan! C'mon man." Alec patted his face lightly, then harder.

Jordan coughed, coming around from the brief blackness. There was a hand on his chest, and Alec's face loomed above him.

"Magnus grab my water bottle." Alec said frantically, and Jordan felt the pressure relieve briefly, replaced by Alec's hand. "Jordan- can you hear me?"

"Ugh…" Jordan moaned, trying not to arch his back.

"Come on…"

"Ugh… is… that guy… wearing tights?"

….

Simon was sat on top of a table- there weren't any other people in the corner of the library except from him and Maia, and currently he wished there were a thousand, so he wouldn't have to look into her entirely earnest face.

"I'm really sorry Simon." Maia said slowly. "It's just… I-"

"You love him. I get it- you don't have to go on about it." He said. He knew it was rude, but having your girlfriend tell you she loved another guy wasn't exactly an enjoyable experience.

"Si, please." She said, and he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"Let's put this castration of hold for a hot minute, Clary's calling me." Simon said, bringing the phone to his ear, turning away from Maia. "What's up, ginger." He said sombrely, but he cringed at the noise he was met with. She was hissing down the phone.

"Si," She started, and Simon could hear the urgency in her voice. "Please listen to me, where are you?" She asked him, and Simon stood up.

"I'm in the library- what's wrong… what happened?" He asked, and he heard a muffled voice with Clary.

"There are people in the school- they have guns. They shot the receptionist, Miss Greene. She's dead." Clary whispered.

"That's not funny." Simon said.

"Do I sound like I'm joking, Simon Lewis."

He blanched.

"Look, I'm with Jace- just lock the doors, barricade them. We're on our way to the library, okay. Tell Isabelle that Jace is okay- we'll be there soon. I'll call you when we're close." Clary said. "Look, I know it's a lot to take in. But we're in danger. I love you." Clary said, then hung up.

"What's wrong?" Maia asked, and Simon turned around.

"There's people in the school. Someone's been shot." He said blankly, then immediately ran to the front of the library, slamming the door and pushing the nearest bookshelf in front of it.

"What the hell?" A voice asked, and Simon turned to see Isabelle Lightwood and a cheerleader he didn't know behind him.

"Izzy." He said, walking up to her- she was pretty tall, but not as tall as him, and he tried not to look worried at her amazon stature. "I'm sorry, guys, there's someone in the school." He said quietly, and he saw Maia approach the group.

"What do you mean?" Isabelle spat, clearly annoyed.

"Someone's been shot. Clary and Jace- " He blurted out, and Isabelle immediately went pale. Her small friend took out her phone and dialled the police.

"Are you serious?" The shorter girl said and held the phone to her ear as Simon nodded sombrely. She moved off to talk to the police, and the conversation was short lived.

"Clary and Jace…" Isabelle said quietly, and Simon sighed.

"I think they saw her get shot- it was that receptionist, Miss Greene." He said. "But they were okay- they're on their way here. Simon said, and Isabelle doubled over. Simon rushed to her, placing a hand on her back. Izzy was gripping the front of his shirt, and the two other girls in the library were currently closing the doors of the library, pushing down bookshelves in front.

"What's wrong?" Simon whispered, and Isabelle shook her head.

"I loved Miss Greene. She helped me write my college transcript- she got me into college." Isabelle muttered, and Simon gripped her hand.

"It's going to be okay." He said, and she laughed.

"How the hell is this going to be okay." She stood up straight, still hanging onto his shirt. "What did Jace say?" She asked him, intimidatingly scared. Simon shook his head.

"I only spoke to Clary- but she said that they were both fine. They're coming here." Simon said.

"Because of the back exits?" Isabelle asked, and Simon raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… yeah, I guess. How-"

"If you ask me how I knew where the exits are in a school I have attended for four years I will smack you, Lewis." She muttered, turning to the windows. "Can I borrow your phone?" She asked, and Simon looked at her curiously. "I left my phone in my brother's car, so can I borrow yours?"

She held out her hand and he placed his phone on her palm, watching her face.

"Are you okay?" Simon asked as she dialled, and she just held up a hand. Turning away to help Maia, Simon ran a hand though his hair. This wasn't the sort of thing he ever expected to have to deal with- yet here he was.

"I'm so sorry, Simon."

Simon was taken aback as his now ex-girlfriend threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Maia…" He muttered, trying not to smell her vanilla perfume. "We'll be fine… We always are."

She pulled back, her hazel eyes searching his.

"I do love you, you know. Just-"

"Not the way I loved you." Simon said, smiling. "It's cool- when we get out of this, you can buy me an endless supply of cappuccinos to make it up to me. And you know I love Jordan. One day I'll be happy for you."

A loud bang interrupted them, and everyone fell silent.

"What was that?" The shorter girl, said, panic in her tone. Isabelle placed Simon's phone on a table.

"That was a gunshot. I think." Isabelle whispered, and before anyone could move she had run across the room and switched off the lights, bathing them in the dim grey glow of the outside sky.

"I can't do this." The cheerleader said, breathing heavily. "This is not real, this can't be happening… this _can't_ be happening." She yelled, clenching her fists. Maia and Simon shared a look; she needed to be quiet.

"Aline, chill out." Isabelle said, crossing back to the middle of the room; the library wasn't that big, but they had moved all of the shelves to block the doors, so there was a large clear space in the centre of the room. Aline was running her hands through her hair.

"I'm not gonna chill out; we are gonna die here, Izzy. This is like a bad lifetime movie…" She said angrily, Simon watching helplessly.

"Don't freaking shout the place down, Jesus. Just sit down- you called the police, we'll be fine. We just have to wait it out, okay?" Isabelle said calmly, reaching a hand out to Aline. She let out a long, slow breath then took Isabelle's hand.

"Okay. But we need to keep away from the doors." She said.

"I agree." Said Maia, making her way to the back of the room, looking out of the window. There was a fire exit beside the window with stairs that led to the back of the gym and out behind the football field. "Wait… where does this lead?" Maia asked, continuing to look out of the window. "We could get out this way- if they came in through the front-"

"Let's wait for Clary and Jace." Simon said, watching the door. Maia frowned.

"They're coming here together… why do we have to wait?" She said, and Simon raised his eyebrows. But before he could react, Isabelle had risen to his defence.

"Because, Roberts, I for one would like to make sure my brother and my friend actually do get out of here alive, even if it means hanging on for a minute." Isabelle said, sitting down on the floor with her back against the back wall, arms resting on her knees. Maia narrowed her eyes.

"C'mon guys, don't make me out to be the bad guy, I just want to-"

She was cut off by the ringing of a phone, and everyone froze; Isabelle immediately jumped to her feet, running to the table and grabbing Simon's phone, ducking back to the ground and answering it.

"Hello?" She hissed, then breathed out an audible sigh of relief. "Thank god." She looked up and met Simon's gaze. "It's Alec- he's still here, but he's with some other guys in the locker room." She said quietly. She frowned, biting her lip, then Simon watched as her eyes fluttered shut. "Shit…" muttered. "Okay… Yeah, we're in the library. Jace and my friend Clary are coming… okay. We called the cops already- they said they were coming, but Aline had to hang up. We… yeah… okay- love you."

She hung up the call and tossed the phone to Simon, who caught it deftly.

"We just need to wait until Jace and Clary get here. Then we can decide what to do." Isabelle said, looking at her hands. "We just need to wait."

…..

"Stop." Jace whispered, pushing Clary behind him. They were halfway across the school, nearly at the library; getting out of the auditorium was easy, but as they made their way through the school they heard two more gunshots, and the sound put them both on edge.

"What is it?" Clary whispered, and Jace scanned the hallway carefully.

"I thought I saw something."

They held their breath for a second hoping to hear any tell-tale sign of someone approaching; all Clary could hear was her own heartbeat, and after a few seconds Jace decided that it was safe, moving forward toward the double doors first with Clary walking behind him.

It only took a second for Clary to register a noise behind her, and before she could react she felt herself being pulled backward by the neck and flung against the ground; her head connected against the cool tile with a sickening crack, and Clary could hear Jace yelling. He sounded far away, distorted, and her vision was blurry.

She felt someone fall beside her and used all of her strength to roll over; their attacker was masked and on the floor underneath Jace who was struggling to subdue the man. Her vision came into focus, and before either of them could react she picked up the gun that lay on the floor beside her and brought it down hard on the masked figures head. He immediately stopped struggling, and Jace pushed him away from them, moving to crouch next to Clary.

"Jesus Christ; are you okay?" He asked, gently moving her hair away from her face. She nodded slowly, still gripping the gun. Jace watched her carefully, then moved back to the now unconscious masked figure. Jace kicked him gently, making sure he was down, then removed his mask. He pulled his phone from his pocket and took a photo, then proceeded to rummage through the guy's own pockets.

"Jace!" Clary hissed, moving toward him. "What are you doing?" She asked, breathing deeply. Jace pulled a card from the assailant, then a folded piece of paper, and then a small knife. Jace slipped all the items into his own pocket.

"We'll need evidence for the police." Jace said carefully, standing up and reaching for the gun. Clary paled.

"Can't we just leave it here?" She asked, holding onto it.

"What if he wakes up?" Jace said, and Clary sighed.

"Fine, good point. But I'm keeping a hold of it." She said, and Jace raised an eyebrow.

"You know how to use a gun?" He asked, nearly laughing, and Clary frowned.

"My dad made my brother and I learn when we lived in Dale." Clary whispered. "And I'm guessing, considering you live under the same roof as the biggest Democratic councilwoman in the state, that you've never even held one." She muttered, clicking the safety on, and Jace nodded.

"Fair point. We're nearly at the library; I'll call Simon." Jace said, moving forward, and Clary gulped. "You okay?" Jace asked, holding out for her hand, and she nodded.

"Let's go." She whispered, and they set off back down the corridor, Clary learning her lesson and glancing over her shoulder every so often; they only had to go through one more set of doors to get to the library. Jace pulled them into a small alcove next to a set of lockers and dialled Simon's number, and Clary watched the corridor as he spoke.

"We're basically there Lewis; we just need you to open the front door to the library. Yeah, yeah- she's fine. Okay. We'll watch the doors."

Jace hung up and the phone and turned to Clary.

"He's gonna open the door for us; we just need to watch."  
They approached the last set of doors blocking them from the library entranced and watched through the windows; the doors weren't open yet. But the second they saw a shift in the door Clary glanced over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed, then Jace pushed through the door.

He kept an arm across Clary's head as they ran toward the library, and Clary blindly pushed open the door. They fell into the library and Clary heard someone push the door shut behind them and looking around Clary nearly burst into tears. The gun felt hot in her hand and she placed in on a table, then flung herself at Simon who had just pushed a bookshelf against the door.

"Si." She muttered into his neck, and she felt him gasp.

"Thank god." He sighed, and Clary grinned.

"How do we get ourselves into these situations?" She laughed, then stopped, pulling back. She felt sick, and slightly hazy. "Seriously, Simon. Are you guys okay?"

She scanned the room and took in Aline, a girl in their class that tended to ignore Clary. Isabelle and Jace were hugging, and they pulled apart to look at each other.

"We've been fine. We heard a shot, but…"

"Oh god, Jace, you're hurt!" Isabelle suddenly said, and everyone whipped around to take in the blood on the sleeve of Jace's shirt. Jace looked down, frowning.

"No… it's not-" He looked up to Clary, who realised that her adrenaline was finally running out. Jace stepped towards her.

"Clary?" He asked, coming closer. Clary lifted a hand to her head, the place that felt soft and warm; pulling back her hand she stared at the scarlet mess that was her own blood. She took in a short breath.

"Oh." She muttered. And then the world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2: Revelations**

"C'mon, c'mon, don't do this." Alec muttered, pulling off the saturated gauze and replacing it with a fresh bandage. Magnus was by his side, handing him fresh bandages what felt like every thirty seconds. Jordan had lost consciousness a minute ago, and Alec was beginning to panic. "What do we do…" He muttered, then felt the light brush of Magnus' hands on his own.

"Hold pressure." Magnus said shakily, helping Alec to plug the wound. They locked eyes over Jordan's body, and the surrealness of the moment set in. Magnus' eyes, absurdly green and almost gold, told Alec to stay calm. He took a deep, steadying breath. Then he sat up on his knees.

"I'm going to see if the bullet came out the back." Alec said carefully. "Maybe if it did, we can move him."

"Move him where?" Magnus asked, and Alec bit his lip.

"I don't know… I just, I don't want to stay here. My sister is still in the building, so is my brother. We need to leave."

"Alec, darling, he's only just about breathing… he's white as a sheet, and this blood—" Magnus gazed around at the locker room, too much blood to register settled around them in swathes. "If he loses any more blood, I don't know what will happen."

"We need to do something! We can't just sit here and wait! Maybe… maybe we can close the wounds, stop the bleeding… look, just help me hold him so I can look for an exit wound."

Magnus nodded carefully, holding pressure on Jordan's wound as Alec carefully lifted the left side of his friend before breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

"There's an exit wound, just below his left shoulder. This must of really fucking hurt." He said steadily, and Magnus blinked.

"So we're going to stitch this guy up? I don't know about you, but the extent of my medical knowledge stems directly from Grey's Anatomy." He said, and Alec grimaced. He placed Jordan down gently, using a piece of gauze to protect his wound from the ground. Then he rummaged through the first aid kit.

"There's a sterile needle here, and some—" He read the packet. "God, there's suture. This needle is so much bigger than I thought it would be…" He grimaced again, shutting his eyes. His dad had always wanted him to be a doctor, but in this very moment, Alec wasn't sure he would be able to do anything other than slump down and cry.

"What is it, pretty eyes?" Magnus whispered, checking the bandage. Alec swallowed.

"I can't even sew clothes, how the hell am I going to do this? Should we even be doing this?" He asked carefully, and Magnus blinked. "I can't even sew…" Alec repeated.

Once again, he felt Magnus' warm hand on his, and he opened his eyes.

"Lucky for you, practically my entire wardrobe is of my own design. And this is the twenty first century- you google, I'll stitch." Magnus said, reaching out for the packets. "Give me the stuff."

Alec blinked, carefully handing over the package containing the needle, already strung with the sutures. Magnus also asked him for the water, and the hand sanitizer, and to be prepared with the bandages. Alec grabbed his phone, for a moment wanting to laugh at the fact that he was googling how to perform emergency sutures.

"Okay… I'll do the front first." Magnus said, revealing Jordan's wound. He covered his hands with sanitizer, then poured some onto the unconscious man's chest. Alec was glad in that moment that Jordan was asleep, however laboured his breathing, as even the thought of having to do this on him awake was mortifying.

"Okay…" Alec said shakily. "It's only a small wound… so a few stiches- not like clothes though!" He said quickly. "Do one stitch, then tie it off."

Magnus nodded, and held his hands steady. Alec poured water onto the wound to clear away the blood, and Magnus bit the bullet, plunging the needle in, then out again, tying off a knot.

"Perfect." Alec croaked, and Magnus breathed out deeply.

"Distract me." He said, diving into the second stitch, perturbed by the way that it felt to stitch someone up, the pop of the needle through skin. "Please."

"How…" Alec said, pouring more water to clean off the blood. Second suture tied off.

"Are you a triplet?" Magnus asked, grabbing the scissors to cut off the suture. Alec frowned.

"No, a twin. Isabelle, she's my twin."

"Pretty name. What about the other one- you said your brother was here too…" Magnus said, and Alec blinked.

"Jace is adopted. He's the same age as us." Alec clarified; it had been a long time since someone hadn't known about him and his siblings, the Lightwood trio. They had been joined at the hip since Jace joined their family when they were all still kids.

"Must be nice, big family." Magnus commented, tying off another stitch, wincing at the feeling. Alec smiled despite the circumstance, then felt his stomach drop at the thought of his family trapped in a school with a homicidal maniac on the loose.

"Yeah… it's nice." Magnus quickly finished the last stitch; they weren't perfect, but both boys watched triumphantly as the closing of the stitch stopped the steady blood flow.

"Holy shit- it worked!" Magnus said, and Alec grinned. He carefully wiped off the blood again before sticking on a big gauze pad and taping it down.

"Okay." Magnus said, holding up his blood-stained hands. "Now the back."

…..

Jace leapt forward, catching Clary's body just as she went limp, stopping her from hitting the ground.

"What happened?" Simon choked, dropping to his knees as Jace cradled Clary's head. He could feel the blood seeping through her hair, and both boys began to panic. And then Clary opened her eyes.

"Woah…" She muttered, and Simon cursed.

"Jesus Christ, Fairchild, don't do that."

"Do what?" Clary grumbled. She hissed. "Ouch.." Feeling her head, she remembered the sharp pain, the blood. "I'm bleeding."

"No shit." Jace laughed, panicked by the whole situation. "Are you okay?"

Clary nodded, trying to sit up, but was immediately pushed back into Jace's lap by three sets of hands. She looked around; Isabelle, Maia, and Simon were all watching her carefully. Behind them, sat on a table, was Aline – something-, a girl on the cheer squad who had no love lost for Clary.

"I can get up." Clary said, again trying to get up, to be pushed down again.

"You look kind of pale, Clary." Isabelle said gently, tucking back a strand of Clary's hair. Clary laughed gently, wincing.

"I'm always pale, guys. Seriously, what's a bit of blood loss."

Finally she pushed herself up, the world slightly dizzy, but eventually she could look clearly around the library.

"Are we the only people here?" Clary asked, looking around, and Simon nodded.

"We were the only people in the library…"

"Hell of a day to stay late and work on a drama project." Isabelle said with a dry grin. Clary frowned, remembering the blood and the gunshot. She blinked hard.

"What the hell is going on." Clary whispered. Her head was aching, and she flashed back to the moment that she was pulled to the ground by that masked figure. She glanced around, seeing the gun on the ground, and looked to Jace.

"What were those things, from the shooter's pocket?" She asked Jace, who furrowed his brow in response, digging in his pocket.

"Um… an ID card for… something?" He held up a plastic card; it was blank with a single serial number, as well as a metal strip. "And…" He trailed off.

"What?" Isabelle asked, watching Jace read a strip of paper. "What is it?"

Jace looked up, confused.

"C. Morgenstern." He said. "What's that? Is that his name?"

Clary went white, looking to Simon, who was thinking the exact same as him. C. Morgenstern. Morgenstern. Clary's dad.

"I don't know… Maybe a company? It sounds so familiar…" Isabelle muttered, and Clary could only watch as if she were in a film. The world stopped spinning for a minute.

She was Clary Fairchild. It couldn't be her- nobody here knew who her father was, what he had done. She lived with her mother, here, a normal mom and a normal life. Clary Fairchild- even her father called her that. She and Jon had never been Morgensterns, not even when they had lived with their father. He knew better than to endanger his own children like that.

"Maybe it's a coincidence." She whispered to Simon as Isabelle and Jace inspected the paper. Simon frowned.

"C Morgenstern. Who else could that be?" Simon replied, worried, and Clary ran a hand through her hair- instantly regretting it when she felt a sharp sting.

"It could be anything. It's not me." Clary said firmly, then watched carefully as Jace pocketed the items again.

"What are we waiting for now?" Aline suddenly chipped in. Everyone who was seated on the floor looked up, and the cheer leader sneered. "Don't look at me like that, fucking scooby gang. Why are we still hanging about? Let's go!"

Maia shushed her, anxiously checking the door. There was no movement.

"Alec is still here- he's in the guys locker room." Isabelle whispered to Jace, who ran a hand through his hair.

"Of course he is- let me call him." He picked up his phone and dialled, only having to wait a minute before picking up.

"Alec… yeah, we're okay, we're all in the library." Jace looked around, meeting Clary's eyes. "Yeah she's here. I came with Clary." He blushed slightly, averting his eyes. "Yeah… her. Look, where are you. We need to get out of here soon, I don't think we can hide forever, and the cops still haven't arrived… which is strange…"

Clary glanced at Simon, panicked.

"How long ago did you call the cops?" Clary asked Isabelle, and Simon checked his phone.

"Like, twenty minutes ago." Simon said. "Shit, where are they?"

Jace continued to whisper to Alec, then hung up. He looked pale and shaken and couldn't quite breathe evenly.

"Jordan's been shot." Jace said.

Simon immediately looked to Maia, his only just ex-girlfriend covering her mouth. Jace back tracked as Isabelle and Clary immediately put an arm around her, comforting the girl.

"No, no—he's okay, I think. There's another guy there with them, he and Alec stitched him up." Jace said quickly, and Maia choked.

" _Stitched?!"_ She gasped. "They stitched him up?"

Clary rubbed her back and shot Jace a panicked look.

"Shh, shh Maia, it's okay." Clary said. "You need to relax, you need to be quiet."

Everyone's eyes shot toward the door, and Maia tried to calm her breathing.

"Oh god, oh god, if he dies. If he dies… oh god…"

"Oh, screw this."

Aline interrupted the moment by jumping from the table and heading toward the back door.

"Aline, don't!" Jace hissed, but the girl was no longer listening. She had only taken one step out the fire exit when the slick snap of a gunshot was heard; Isabelle jumped to her feet and pulled Aline back inside, reclosing the door and checking the girl over. Jace crouched low and tried to see under the blinds, but nothing was moving.

"What the fuck was that?" Aline said, shaken, and Isabelle shushed her.

"We need to go." Clary said, standing up with Simon's help.

"What?" Maia sniffed, getting up to. Isabelle shot Clary a panicked look.

"They know we're here now!" Clary hissed.

"Who knows we're here?" Aline hissed back, and Clary tried her hardest not to throw the nearest book at her head.

"Whoever is fucking shooting at us." Clary replied, and Isabelle nodded in agreement.

"They now we're here, and clearly they had the exit blocked off. Whoever 'they' are have decided that we aren't leaving." She said hastily, and the others nodded.

"Where will we go?" Simon said, looking around. "We're kind of trapped."

"Locker room." Maia blurted out, and everyone shared a look.

"Okay." Said Jace. "Locker room."

…

Magnus couldn't stop shaking. He had just stitched up a man. A _human being._ Sewing together two different coloured halves of a jacket was one thing, but stitching human flesh was something Magnus hoped he would never have to do again. Jordan was still unconscious, and there was still an extreme amount of blood wiped across the floors, but Jordan was no longer bleeding, and his skin was less pallid and clammy. That made him feel somewhat better.

Magnus jumped at the sound of Alec's phone pinging, and Alec sighed too.

"Sorry, I forgot to turn off my text alert… oh god." He muttered. Manus watched him carefully.

"What is it?" He asked, scooting from his position beside Jordan toward Alec.

"Jace and Izzy- they're on their way here… They couldn't get out the back."

"They're coming here? They do know that someone was shot right outside this door, less than an hour ago? They can't!" Magnus whispered, and Alec rubbed his temple.

"That's all Jace said, that they're coming here because they aren't safe." Alec said, and Magnus sighed.

"What did the police say?" Magnus asked, and Alec leant his head against a locker.

"They said they already knew, that they were on their way." He looked at his phone. "That was fifteen minutes ago."

Magnus frowned. Even he knew that, in the current political climate, an active shooter situation in a school would be immediately swamped by police, news, activists. Instead there was silence.

"There's something not right about this…" Magnus stated, and Alec raised an eyebrow.

"Something? I'd go ahead and say that there was a lot not right with this." He replied, and Magnus tried to smile.

"I'm being serious, pretty eyes. Where are the cops? They should be all over this…" Magnus whispered. They both looked at each other. There was something wrong. Really wrong.

"Fuck!"

Both Magnus and Alec nearly jumped out of their skin at the exclamation from the previously unconscious Jordan, and both moved to sit on either side of him. They had tried to mop up the blood around him, and now he was just covered in a thin veil of dry blood, crackled and red like some sort of skin disease. Jordan's eye's were wide open, his breathing laboured.

"Hey, man…" Alec said carefully; he and Jordan weren't the best of friends, but they were on the team together, and he had a lot of respect for the kid.

"Alec…" Jordan looked up at him, still breathing funny. Magnus shot Alec a worried look.

"Jordan, it's okay…. You're gonna be okay…" Alec said, placing a hand on Jordan's shoulder in an attempt to calm him.

"I got shot…" Jordan said groggily; then he tried to sit up, and cried out at the pain. Magnus tried not to shush him, instead glancing worriedly at the door. "I got fucking _shot…_ " He trailed off, still lying on the ground. He tried to sit up again, this time slower, and all Alec could do was help. Once he was upright, Jordan leant himself against a locker and assessed his chest. "I'm clearly alive though…" He wheezed, looking to the pair, and Alec smiled worriedly.

"Magnus performed some emergency surgery…" Jordan looked shocked, and Alec clarified quickly. "Stitches, he gave you a few stitches. The… the bullet, it went right through. You wouldn't stop bleeding, and we couldn't leave, we didn't know what was happening. We thought we should do something…"

"Alec…" Jordan choked out, reaching out and patting the guy's hand (the nearest thing he could reach without lifting anything or moving too much). "I think you guys saved my life… don't… have to explain…"

He shut his eyes briefly, but thankfully opened them again.

"How long was I out?" Jordan asked, and Alec checked his phone.

"Maybe… half an hour? A bit longer?..."

Jordan looked alarmed at this information and looked at both of the boys.

"Where are the cops? Why are we still here?" He asked, and Alec rubbed his forehead.

"We called them, Jace called them. They said they were coming… But they haven't yet. We don't know what's happening out there- maybe they are here, for all we know? Maybe they need to… sweep the school…" Alec said hopefully, and Jordan frowned, knowing that that wasn't what was happening.

"What happened." Magnus asked Jordan, quickly looking down at his hands. "Sorry…"

"No, man… fair question." Jordan huffed, shifting slightly in his upright position. He looked slightly better than before, perhaps better for not having all the blood rush to his head. "I was just in the gym, practicing, and this guy comes toward the office…" Jordan took a deep breath, shutting his eyes. "He was in all black, had this mask on… I thought it was some kid here to vandalise something, or steal, so I shouted…" Jordan flinched. "Then he shot me. He didn't… this guy, he didn't hesitate at all. There's no way that was a kid."

"Something is really, really wrong." Magnus whispered, and Alec nodded.

"We wait for Jace and Isabelle. Then we can figure out what to do. They're coming now." Alec said, and Jordan nodded. They would wait.

…

Simon walked with his back pressed against Clary's, watching the scene behind them as the group moved along the hallway. They were going as fast as they can, considering the fact that they now believed that the library they had just vacated was clearly on the shooters' radar.

They needed to get from the second floor to the first floor, where the gym was, and they had decided against the main stairwell, considering the fact that whoever was wandering the halls had been watching the exits. They instead looped back through the language block and made their way toward a smaller set of stairs.

Also, Clary had a gun. He had protested it, considering the fact that she could only just walk straight, continually dizzy from the wound on her head. But she was the only one who knew how to use it. So she had it.

Jace was at the front and reached the door to the stairway first, only waiting a second to take a deep breath before pushing it open. Nothing.

"Okay…" He whispered, barely audible to Simon at the back. "Let's just go."

They filtered into the stairwell, and upon closing the door all breathed a collective sigh of relief. None of them mentioned the paralysing fear that was creeping at the back of their minds, and none of them stopped to think about the cold dread that they were feeling. They had to keep moving.

Maia opened the door when they reached the bottom of the stairs, then immediately pulled it closed, pushing everyone back. She shut her eyes.

"Oh god…" She muttered, and everyone gathered round the door, looking at Maia's face.

"What is it?" Jace whispered; they only needed to get out this door; the gym was on the opposite side, and it was less than ten feet to the boys locker room. They were nearly there.

"Blood…" Maia whispered, tugging at her braids. "There's… there's a lot of blood out there…"

Clary felt a hand loop into her own, looking to see Simon's pale face watching the door.

"We have to go out there- we need to get to the locker room." Isabelle muttered. "We're so close…"

Jace ran a hand through his hair, and Clary took a step forward.

"Look… I'll go out first, I'll watch the hallway. You all just make a run for it, then I'll come in last…" She said quietly, immediately sparking a noise of indignation from Jace.

"No way." He said firmly, and Clary sighed.

"I've got the gun…" She said, gesturing to the automatic weapon.

"You're also most likely concussed…" He replied, looking directly into her eyes.

"Jace… it'll be fine… there might not even be anyone there… it's just in case."

"This isn't a film, Clary. Someone is actually shooting people, you really think you'll be able to do anything if someone comes around that corner?" He asked, and Clary blinked, squeezing Simon's hand.

"Yeah. I do. Now, move." She said; she wasn't going to let everyone get het up and scared more than they had to be, and she shook off Jace's arm as she took a deep breath, then pushed open the door and moved forward; Maia was right, there was a lot of blood. Too much blood, leading straight into the locker room.

She moved to the middle of the hallway, her back turned to her friends and watched the empty corridor, eyes wide, heart beating, as she heard them make their way across the hallway toward the locker room. Her head was pounding, and all she could think of was the fact that she hadn't even called her mom.

"The door's blocked!" Simon whispered, first to reach the door. Clary heard them whisper but couldn't move. Not until they were inside.

"Call Alec!" Isabelle hissed, looking around, heart beating wildly. She saw Clary, frozen, and panicked. Jace was holding his phone to his ear, he too panicking. He could just shout through the door, but he didn't want anyone else to hear. He could knock, or whisper, but what if Alec didn't hear?

"Clary…" Isabelle mouthed, barely talking. She scanned the hallway. "Clary! You can come over now, get out of the way!"

"It's not working!" Jace panicked, looking at his phone that was displaying a 'no signal' symbol. He knocked on the door lightly, glancing back at Clary. They needed to get inside. "Alec… Alec, it's me!" He hissed.

"Clary!" Isabelle repeated.

"Alec!"

Just as the door to the locker room swung open Simon dove forward, grabbing onto Clary and pulling her backwards by the waist through the door that was now open. Aline, previously silent, was first through the door, and everyone followed suit, falling into the locker room as quietly as they could. Simon pushed Clary through the door, then turned to help Jace and a tall boy he didn't know stack benches against the door. He fell back to the ground, his nerves shot and adrenaline running through his veins like electricity. Then he surveyed the scene.

…

Maia had never led an exciting life; she lived with her mother, she had normal friends, and up until today the only extraordinary thig about her was the fact that she had been in love with a boy who wasn't her boyfriend. Now, sitting in a locker room that smelled like piss with a group of people who were running for their lives, next to the bloodied body of the boy she was in love with, she could do anything to go back to the mundane normal.

"Jordan…" She whispered, ignoring the other's who were muttering around her. He looked to her, green eyes tired and pained, his usually tanned skin pallid in the fluorescent lights.

"I'm okay, Roberts." He grimaced, reaching for her hand. "You know me, always getting in trouble." He sucked in a breath through his teeth and Maia felt hot tears sting in her eyes.

"I'm so scared…" She whispered, and Jordan squeezed her hand gently.

"Yeah… me too." Jordan looked around, his eyes falling on Simon who was currently tucking Clary's hair into a bandage, the girl's green eyes glassy and lifeless. He frowned.

"Is she okay?" He asked, and Maia sighed, scooting closer to him and resting her back against the locker.

"She saw Miss Greene get shot… she hit her head…" Her eyes flicked to the weapon by the door. "She's been carrying that gun around for too long."

Jordan finally noticed the gun and grimaced.

"I could have gone my whole life without seeing one of those things." He muttered, the burning in his chest throbbing with every word. Maia wiped at her face.

"Yeah, well, she's brave. I wouldn't even know what to do with that thing, and Clary stood guard while we got in here. She's crazy brave."

Jordan nodded.

"I don't know how we get out of this." Jordan said.

"Guys—" Alec interrupted, looking around at everyone. He was sat on the ground, two phones in his hand, and he looked panicked. Clary finally looked up, and Jace ran a had through his hair.

"Does anyone else have a phone?" He asked, and Magnus- who had been sat against the wall, moved to dig through his bag and open up his phone.

"No signal." Magnus said, turning it back off. Jace paled.

"No signal… on any of them."

"That's so weird." Simon said, and Clary shook her head.

"It's them. They're doing this, they're why the cops aren't here, why the phones aren't working. They're cutting us off."

Everyone looked to Clary. She was a well liked person, and all but Magnus had known her for years. But the stark look on her face at that moment worried everyone.

"We don't know that." Jace whispered, and Clary looked straight at him.

"You said it earlier, they want something. This isn't political, they're searching. That's why they came after hours, when most of the classrooms would be locked and there would only be a few people here. They wanted to trap whatever they were looking for." She looked down at her hands. "Whoever they were looking for."

"What makes you think that?" Isabelle asked carefully, and Clary put her head in her hands before looking up again.

"C. Morgenstern." She said, looking pointedly at Jace. He pulled the crumpled note from his pocket and glanced at it, looking at her quizzically. She pulled at her fingers.

"I think that's me."

Everyone watched her, and Jace shook his head.

"What do you mean? How…"

"C. Morgenstern. I've never gone by it…. But that's the name on my birth certificate. Clarissa Morgenstern. My dad's name."

No one knew what to say.

"So…" Clary continued. "The reason this is happening, why Miss Greene is dead, why Jordan got shot… Is because someone is looking for me."

Simon ran a hand through his hair, the rest too shocked to speak. Until Magnus.

"Listen, sweetie. I don't know who you are, or why your delusions of grandeur are so morbid, but this doesn't mean anything! That could mean anything, and how do you even know that piece of paper belongs to the shooters, maybe they just…" He looked around at the sceptical faces. "Picked it up?"

"Coincidences happen all the time, Clary." Jace said. Clary furrowed her brows and gestured emphatically.

"Not like this, not like some cliché horror film. Besides…"

She stopped for a minute at the sharp look from Simon, shooting him the same one in return.

"Don't, Clary…" He whispered, and Clary just shut her eyes.

"My dad is Valentine Morgenstern."

Alec's eyes widened and Maia gasped, covering her mouth and watching the girl carefully. Jace gulped.

"As in—"

"As in, Valentine Morgenstern, killer for hire, currently serving time for the murder of oil magnate Hodge Starkweather." Clary finished. "Yeah. Him."

"Oh." Magnus said. "Oh dear."

 **A/N:**

 **Sorry this update has been so long coming, but I hope this was worth waiting for! Please leave a review with your comments, or feel free to message me. Also, check out some of my others. I'm currently being very productive, so more updates should be coming soon. Hope you enjoyed.  
Big love. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 4: Reckoning**

It had taken all of two seconds for Aline to explode into profanities.

"Are you fucking serious?!" She exclaimed, and Jordan gasped in pain as he tensed up, the effort sending waves of pain through his shoulder. "You're… you're…"

"Shut the fuck up!" Isabelle hissed, and Simon moved to stand in front of Clary when Aline leapt to her feet.

"You are so dead, Clary. How are you even allowed to be in public school, you're gonna get us all killed—"

Aline's tirade came to a swift halt as Isabelle moved from her space beside Alec and slapped the girl sharply across the face. Clary didn't move, still stunned and feeling slightly like she might throw up. Isabelle puffed her chest, a commanding presence in the sweaty locker room. Aline was holding her face.

"I can't believe you—"

"Oh, sit down or I'll do it again." Izzy whispered, rolling her eyes, and Aline sat down sourly. She was still seething, and Clary could feel the deathly stare against her. She swallowed thickly.

"I'm so sorry… I'm not even supposed to tell anyone, I…"

"You don't need to apologise, for anything, okay? I don't give a fuck who your dad is. You're Clary Fairchild, I've known you for three whole years. You're a good person. And we _will_ get out of this."

Clary flushed at Isabelle and nodded, still feeling sick to her stomach. She glanced down at Jordan, his sickly pallor and Maia's desperate expression. No matter what happened, she would always remember the looks of fear on the faces of her classmates. Isabelle sat back down next to Alec, slipping a hand into his.

"Nice hit, by the way." Magnus said, trying to break the tension. Aline glared at him.

"No offense, but who the hell are you?" She asked, and Magnus shrugged.

"Magnus Bane. Freewheeling bisexual. Currently trapped in a high school locker room."

Aline rolled her eyes and pulled her knees to her chest. "Great. The whole freakshow is here."

"Put a sock in it, Regina George," Simon said, patting Clary's shoulder before moving to begin opening lockers. "Do we have any painkillers?"

"That's the question." Jordan murmured, leaning his head against a bench. Maia stroked his hair lightly.

"I'll check in these lockers." Jace said, pushing himself off from the wall and moving to rifle through the unlocked ones, vigorously shaking the ones that weren't. He found a load of random painkillers and threw them to Alec, letting him deal with Jordan, before handing some to Clary too. Simon was still rifling through lockers.

"Here." Jace said, sitting beside Clary and giving her the pills. She frowned.

"I'm fine." She said, wringing her hands.

"No, you passed out less than half an hour ago because you've got a gash the size of Texas in your skull. Take some."

She blinked at him, palming a few and swallowing them dry, then returned to looking at her hands.

"Has anyone tried calling the cops again?" Alec asked, handing off the painkillers to Jordan. Magnus nodded.

"I've been dialling every minute. Still nothing."

"I've tried calling Mom but she wasn't in. I left a great message on the machine though." Jace said, and for a moment Isabelle felt like laughing.

"Sorry if you can't reach me, I'm otherwise engaged in an active shootout?" She sputtered, and Alec shushed her.

"Not really the time, Iz." He murmured, but his siblings just grinned at each other. Until they realised what they were laughing about.

"Has anyone else told their parents where they are?" Jace asked, and Clary rubbed her temples.

"Yeah, my mom knows I'm here. But she isn't expecting me and Simon back until after seven, we had plans."

Jace watched her carefully, then looked around at everyone else.

"Sorry bro." Jordan choked out. "I was a bit busy getting shot."

"Well, to put it lightly, we're screwed." Magnus said. He unfolded himself from his position on the ground, stretching his legs. "What do we do now?"

"We wait for the police, sideshow," Aline muttered, and Isabelle rolled her eyes. She was really started to dislike that girl.

"You called them a half hour ago. Where are they?"

"I don't know, sweeping the school maybe?"

Simon laughed humourlessly, head deep in a locker. He pulled his head out. "Sweeping the school are they, CSI? We were shot at like five minutes ago! No one is here yet."

"But they will be." Jace said in earnest. "they're coming."

They all looked up as Jace's phone suddenly rang, as though by fate. "Quiet!" Alec hissed, and Simon stumbled back toward the door, pressing an ear to wood and listening.

"Hello?" Jace picked up his phone and held it to his ear. The caller ID was his mother, but the voice was broken, fuzzed by static. "Mom… hello?

" _Jace… brother… police…"_

"Mom, I can't hear you, just listen—"

" _Jace…"_

"Let me speak to her—" Isabelle said desperately, moving to get up, but Alec just held her down as Jace put up a silencing hand.

"Mom, we're in the school. There are guys with guns _everywhere._ Two people have been shot. We need help." He was speaking as slowly as he could, the fuzzed noise still coming through: he hoped that she could hear him. "Please, call the cops. We need help. Please—" He was cut off by a loud beep and looked down to see the disconnect, the tiny 'no signal' at the top of the screen. "Fuck!"

"Shh, Jace." Clary said, tugging at his sleeve. He sat down and put his head in his hands. "we need to be quiet… at least you got through to her." She tried to comfort him, keeping a hand on his arm.

"We don't know if she heard. She might not even know…"

"She heard. She knows." She murmured, close to his head. "We're going to be okay."

"Guys."

They all looked to Simon, who looked white. "What's wrong?" Clary asked, and Simon waved a hand.

"They're out there… I can hear them."

A stillness fell over the room and Clary couldn't help but hold her breath. The locker room wasn't exactly soundproof, and their silence allowed the voices outside the room to echo around all of them.

" _She must be here. The truck is still parked out front."_

" _Where's the other girl, and the kid—hey."_

" _What?"_

" _Look at that, Santiago."_

" _The fuck… Oh. Oh."_

" _You wanna bet the kid dragged himself in there to die?"_

" _You shouldn't have fucking shot him, now we're gonna have to deal with the body."_

" _Why?"_

They were all frozen at the conversation happening outside the door.

" _You know the rules, we can't have any loose ends."_

Clary looked to Simon, panicked as the footsteps got nearer.

"What do we do?" She hissed. Jordan was in the middle of hyperventilating, and Maia was pulling him to his feet.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Isabelle asked, and Maia dragged Jordan to the back of the locker room.

"We have to hide." She said frantically as Jordan stumbled along beside her, trying not to throw up.

They all jumped as they heard a bang on the door.

" _Shit, it's locked…."_

"It's two guys," Jace said, eyes locked with Alec. Alec nodded, getting to his feet and helping Maia situate Jordan before moving toward the door.

Clary got up, panicked, but Jace pushed her behind him. "Get the gun." He said quietly, flinching as there was another bang on the door.

"What's currently happening?" Isabelle asked shakily, and Magnus took a deep breath.

"I think the meathead twins are planning on trying to take down two killers for hire." He said, standing up. Jace glared at him.

"What the hell else are we going to do?" He asked. There was no humour in his voice anymore, only fear. They were desperate.

"They have guns." Magnus said seriously.

"We know that." The door banged again, and Simon pressed himself against the door with everything he had.

"Guys…. I'm not exactly the Hulk." He groaned, and Clary felt tears prick in her eyes. They were going to die.

"So you need the upper hand." Magnus said, and he looked to Isabelle. "Does your phone have a flashlight?" He asked, and she nodded, trying not to burst into tears as she turned it on. "Okay, flick it on and off, like this." He demonstrated rapidly flashing the torch. Isabelle nodded, confused. Magnus looked up, strangely yellow eyes meeting Clary's. "You too, biscuit," He said, and Clary shakily took out her phone.

"But, the gun…" She sniffed, and Magnus just shook his head as there was a massive bang against the door.

"Not today, sweetpea. They're not gonna turn us into monsters."

Jace and Alec had moved so they were neared the door, stance as though they were about to pull a tackle on the football field. Magnus swallowed. "When I say so, glasses, move the bench and get out the way. I'm going to turn off the lights. They don't know we're in here, so we have the upper hand. You guys flash the lights, okay, distract them. They might shoot, but don't stop."

"But," Izzy started, cut off by a bang on the door that sent splinters flying.

"Get them to the ground, hit their heads as hard as you can. We can't have them calling for help."

There was a rising sense of panic: Aline had curled up, back pressed against a locker, and Maia was crouched over Jordan at the edge of the showers. There was a string of profanities from outside the door. Magnus moved toward the light switch.

"Okay," He said, locking eyes with Simon, determination in his eyes and fear in Simon's. "Go!"

Clary sucked in a breath as the world was plunged into blackness, only just remembering to flick the flashlight. The bright lights exploded around her at the same time Simon yelled out, wrenching the bench from the door. She heard shouts, and saw two figures come tumbling into the darkness.

Jace was working on pure adrenaline alone: he immediately tackled the first guy, Simon stretching back the guy's arm to stop him grabbing his gun. Jace took him down as hard as he could and slammed his head against the ground, once, twice, three times. The guys stayed down, and Clary couldn't help but stumble forward to remove the gun from it's holster as Jace moved around to help Alec. The second guy had Alec in a chokehold, but before Jace could get to them Magnus had swung his fist against his head, and he dropped like a stone.

Clary let out a gasp and dropped her phone, the light splaying across the small room and casting endless shadows as she dove to push the bench back against the door, Simon collapsing against it when she had finished. Isabelle ran and turned back on the light, and they stared into the face of their attackers.

…..

"Do we really have to tie them up?" Clary whispered as Jace and Magnus proceeded to wrap the two men in the only clothes they could find in the locker room, shoving gym socks into both of their mouths. They had shoved them both into the corner where they had, passed out, remained for the past five minutes. They had to remove the masks to block their mouths, but no one had the heart to fully reveal their faces.

"What if they wake up?" Jace said, and Clary nodded in understanding: just because she knew why, didn't make her happy with it. She didn't want her friends to get any closer to them than they needed to.

Maia was speaking quietly to Jordan whose gaze was fixed on the two men, and the guns that Clary had kicked to the side. He was paler than normal, and shaking. Clary flicked her gaze to Maia.

"Is he okay?" She asked, and Maia barely had a moment to open her mouth before he responded for himself.

"Why don't we just shoot them."

The blood drained from Clary's face, and she stared horror struck at her friend. Jace and Magnus also froze, stepping away from the masked assailants as though they had been burned.

"We're not doing that." Alec said quietly, but Jordan just kept staring. He moved his gaze to Alec.

"Why not? It was one of them, Alec. One of those sons of bitches _shot_ me. They didn't even care—they were coming in here to get my _body_ for fuck sake." His voice was a low growl.

"We are not having this conversation." Simon muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Why not? They wouldn't hesitate—"

"I said, enough, Kyle." Simon said as thunderously as one could while whispering. "You're not exactly my favourite person in the world right now," He moved his gaze to Maia, who looked like she wanted to puke. "But you've just been shot. So I'll give you the benefit of the doubt as long as you stop talking crazy."

"Lewis, you don't want—"

" _Santiago—"_

There was a collective break in the energy of the room as a crackling voice emerged from the pair of bodies. Frozen, Clary realised that there was no way one of them could have said anything, due to the sock-mouth debacle. She sucked in a breath and approached them gingerly.

" _Santiago, response. We're moving out to the East wing, can you confirm main building is empty before meeting us."_

Clary held her breath as she reached into the pocket of the larger man and extracted a radio: she looked to Jace, panicked.

"We need to tell them the main building is empty!" She hissed, and he took the object from her hand. Covering the speaker he pressed the talk button and put on his best gravelly voice.

"Confirmed." He said, heart pounding. "You can move out to the East building."

There was a static pause, the air filling with electricity.

" _Copy that. Radio dampners are coming down in ten, we'll be watching for calls. Report to Starkweather if you find Morgenstern."_

The group stared at each other in shock before the crackling of the radio silenced. Jace breathed out a sigh of relief.

"They're heading toward the science building." He said in relief. "We can get out of here."

"And go where exactly?" All heads turned to Aline, who had been until then cowering in a corner. Now she was staring at the two men spitefully and scowling at the group. "Why are you all looking at me like that? In case you forgot, they're watching all the exits. So what if they're in the science block? There's no way out.

Clary had to admit, she had a point.

"Didn't you hear them?" Magnus asked. "They're the ones that have been messing with our signal, but give it ten minutes and we can call for help."

Jace frowned. "They also said they're watching for calls."

"So? If one of us uses the phone in the office they won't know that we're all here, then we can just make a run for it."

Clary felt a jolt of shock run through her and doubled over. Simon knelt down next to her and she screwed her eyes shut, trying not to think about what she had seen that morning.

"Hey." He said, placing a hand on her back. "You good."

"Yeah…" She breathed and looked up to Magnus. "No office. Miss Greene… she's still in there." His eyes softened.

"Okay, no office. Principal's office then?"

Clary locked eyes with Simon and nodded. "Yeah… it's right next to the library, we can go back the way we came. We know they've already been past here."

"Guys! Can we be serious for a minute? We should just stay here, it's safer. We know they aren't coming back." Aline said with vigour.

"How do we know that? Any one of them could come looking for these goons any minute. And I for one would like to actually talk to the cops, once and for all. Or at least my mom." Simon said quietly.

"Well I'm not leaving." She spat. Isabelle rubbed her temples.

"You won't need to. It's not like we're all going to go traipsing to the Principal's office, right?" She said. "Right? Some of us will need to stay here."

"We can't stay _here_." Simon said. "Sorry, Jordan, I know you aren't really in the best state, but it would make more sense for us to get to the front of the building instead of just being sitting ducks."

"No, that's a good point." Isabelle said, nodding. "So… some of us go to the Principal's office, the rest go to the front entrance and wait for help."

"I'll make the call." Jace said, meeting everyone's looks. "I'm the fastest runner, I can make the call the make a run for it."

"Me too." Clary said.

"No."

"Yes. It's my fault we're here. Besides, I'm the only one who knows how to fire a gun." She said firmly: Jace wanted to argue, as did Simon, but the look in Clary's eyes told them both to keep their mouths shut.

"I'll take one of the guns." Maia said. Jordan twisted to look at her, groaning in pain and seeing bright spots dance in his eyes.

"What." He gasped, and Maia looked up.

"Well, Alec and Magnus are the only two strong enough to carry you—sorry Si—, so we can head to the front entrance. I'll take one of the guns and walk ahead. Aline can keep watch from behind with Simon, he can take the other gun." Aline looked like she too wanted to protest, but the deathly glare that she received told her otherwise.

"I'll come with you too, Jace." Isabelle said. This time he did protest.

"Izzy, no. You're coming with me." Alec said firmly, and Isabelle just rolled her eyes.

"I'm not a child. And you're not the boss of me. Besides, there are two ways into the Principal's office, so we need two people to keep watch. Me and Clary—plus, we're both pretty small so we'll be able to keep out of sight. It makes perfect sense."

"None of this makes much sense." Magnus sighed. Alec locked eyes with his twin, ice meeting earth, hot and cold. They shared a silent message, then Alec nodded. He looked to Jace.

"Look after her." He ordered, and Jace nodded before smiling nervously.

"She's the one that looks after us, bro. We're gonna be fine."

"And who knows, maybe your mom has already sent the cops looking for us." Jordan said queasily to Jace.

"So we have a plan." Simon said quietly. "Are we really going to do this?"

"Yes." Clary said firmly, moving to hand one of the guns to Simon, the other to Maia. She also picked up the other radio from the guard and handed it to Aline.

"I know you don't want to do this, Aline. And I'm really fucking sorry. But we need you to help, okay?"

Aline scowled at the girl, accepting the walkie with a frown. "What do I need this for?" She asked, and Clary flicked her eyes to Jace.

"You listen to it: if they say they're heading toward the front entrance, hide. If they say they're onto us, run. We at least have an advantage over them."

"This is insane." Aline whispered.

"Get with the programme." Magnus said, helping Alec to get Jordan, swinging his good arm over his own shoulder whilst Jordan wrapped his bad arm gingerly around Alec's waist. "Yes, this is crazy. Yes, we might die."

"But?" Simon asked curiously as Clary moved to show him how to use the weapon he was now holding. Magnus raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, that's it sweetcheeks. This is, as Alice said, insane."

"It's Aline." She snapped.

"Whatever. I for one have far too much adrenaline coursing through my veins to feel anything resembling fear. So let's get this done, okay?"

"Okay." Jace said. "You guys take the language corridor; we'll go back up the way we came. Let's move fast, okay?"

"Call me if something goes wrong." Simon said, pulling Clary into a tight hug. "I'll see you on the other side."

"Very Die Hard of you, Si." Clary mumbled into his hair, pulling him closer. "Love you."

"Love you too, short stuff. I'll see you outside the auditorium." Clary swallowed at the thought of having to see that again. But she nodded.

"Okay." Jordan groaned. "Let's go."

Clary followed Jace out the door, ignoring how loud their footsteps were and making straight for the door they had come through less than an hour ago: she watched the corridor warily, letting Isabelle into the stairway first. She took a final look at her closest friend as he walked in the opposite direction, holding a gun she never thought he would be holding, throwing a nervous look over his shoulder. She bit back a sob, then turned to rush into the stairwell as Jace held the door.

…..

"It's locked." Isabelle hissed as Jace hurried his sister: they were stood, exposed, in the hallway outside of the principal's office and Isabelle was currently shaking the door handle. Clary could almost hear her heat in her ears: but she was getting used to that. At this point it seemed like they would never get out of it.

"Just break the knob off or something!" He responded, equally frantic. Clary had her eyes glued to the door that stood between them and the open hallway, between them and whoever wanted them dead. She could hear Isabelle struggling with something: and then the door swung open.

"Isabelle, go unlock the back door." Jace muttered as Clary rushed inside the door and closed it, helping Jace push the Principal's desk up against it.

"Where are all the teachers?" Isabelle asked suddenly as she unlocked the second door with her hairpin, frowning at Jace and Clary. She stood up, peering out into the hallway before turning back. "Shouldn't there be more people… and where is the Principle?"

"I don't know, Izza, that's not really the top of my list of priorities right now…" Jace said, watching the back door anxiously. "Okay—Clary, text Simon and let him know when I start the call. And Iz—" He threw her the radio. "Listen out for if they say anything on that. I feel like we won't have long once I make the call, and Clary texts Simon. They'll know what we're doing."

Isabelle nodded firmly. "And then we run, yeah?" She asked, holding the radio as though it could explode any minute. They shared a nod of understanding, then Clary, gun poised, moved to stand beside Clary.

"Okay." Jace said, picking up the handheld phone on the Principal's desk, hearing the dull dial tone in the background letting it was over him. He nodded at Clary who sent the text to Simon, then he dialled three numbers he desperately hoped would save him.

Clary knew she should be watching the hallway, be ready to run. But both she and Isabelle were holding their breath as they heard the phone ring.

" _Emergency services how can I direct your call?"_

Clary couldn't help but let out a gasp, and she gripped Isabelle's hand with her free one. Jace's lip was trembling as he choked out his response.

"Yes, hello. Police. Please." He said, running a hand through his hair—his eye snapped to Isabelle. "Call Mom again!" He hissed suddenly. Clary passed her phone to Isabelle who dialled a number and held the phone up.

"Mom? Thank God!"

Clary let her eyes flutter shut in relief as Jace finally began to give his report to the cops, and Isabelle's other's voice flooded from her phone. She could almost feel the tension leaving her body.

Then a voice crackled over the radio. Jace continued his hurried report, and Isabelle shut off the cell.

" _We've got a ping. Starkweather says landline."_

" _On it."_

" _Santiago, report?"_

"We need to go." Isabelle said frantically, and Jace held up a hand. "Jace!"

" _Santiago, report."_

" _He hasn't checked in with Starkweather yet."_

" _Shit."_

" _Has anyone seen them? Someone track their walkie."_

Isabelle gasped, dropping the small radio as it began to let out a loud, synthetic wail. Clary stepped away from it, as though the object itself was a threat. It currently was: the wailing was rhythmic, but getting louder. It would take them minutes to find them. "Time to go!" She yelled to Jace, who cursed, dropping the phone and leaping toward them. And then they were running.

Clary sprinted like her life depended on it: they were being loud, but at that point it was too late.

"Did you get through to the police?" Isabelle gasped as they rounded the corner and slammed through the doors to the stairway, taking them two at a time. Their plan was to make it back through to the auditorium through the store cupboard again. Jace skidded down the hall, watching over his shoulder.

"They hadn't even received a call yet." He huffed, and Isabelle tried not to think about the fact that Aline had called them nearly a half hour ago. "But they're coming now, they on their way anyway—Mom called them."

"She said… fuck, she said she's on the way too. She even called _Dad._ We're gonna be fine." Isabelle said, as though she were trying to convince herself.

They were nearly at the door for the store cupboard and Jace slowed down, letting Clary and Isabelle in first before shutting the door as quietly as he could: the passage into the auditorium was as dark as it had been earlier, and Jace braced himself for the fact that to get out the school, they would have to pass Miss Greene. He swallowed thickly, seeing Clary slow and guessing that she was thinking the same thing.

"Hey…" He whispered as they came to the opening of the cupboard. "We're gonna be okay, right? We only have to get out those doors and we're done."

Clary took a deep breath, and Isabelle made the move to open the door; the costumes that they had strewn everywhere, forgotten, lay on the ground, and as she stepped over them Clary couldn't help but think about how different life had been just hours ago, when she was sat at the piano with Jace. She had just been a girl then, a student looking for her final costume to finish her final drama module. Now she was Clary Morgenstern. On the run.

"Come on Clary!"

Clary was jolted back to reality, eyes roaming away from the piano and to Isabelle and Jace who were standing at the door, gesturing desperately to her. She crossed the stage and jumped down, rushing to the doors. She could see the blood through the glass and pretended that she couldn't.

"Can you hear that?" Jace whispered, and they all listened as the sound of sirens grew nearer—and then voices.

"Alec!" Jace yelled, throwing open the door to see Maia and Aline helping to support Jordan between them, his gruesome wounds barely covered and bleeding scarlet through the gauze. Maia's face was tearstained, hazel eyes bloodshot, and Aline was openly crying. "What the…" Jace murmured, and they all looked up as flashing lights began to spray across the front office: the police.

"Fuck sake, help!" Aline screamed as Jordan stumbled, and Isabelle and Jace rushed forward, Isabelle taking Maia by the hand and Jace taking her place to support a barely conscious Jordan.

"Where's Simon?" Clary asked as Jace looked over his shoulder, a number of shouts coming from outside the entrance. Isabelle broke into a run dragging Maia with her, and they spilled out the front entrance. "Simon!" Clary yelled again, abandoning the gun and heading back the way Aline and Maia had just emerged from, ignoring the shouts from behind her.

Struggling along the corridor was Alec, holding onto a wavering Magnus, draped across Alec as though he were a swathe of fabric. And he was bleeding, a deep line in his forehead glimmering red. She swallowed, rushing forward to help.

"Where's Simon?" She asked, slipping a shoulder under Magnus' other arm as they headed outside toward the commotion, and Alec grunted, using his free shoulder to open the door.

"Alec!" She yelled, and Alec cursed: three cops burst through the entrance at her scream, and suddenly Magnus was ripped from their grasp as he was mounted onto a stretcher. Alec fell to his knees as more police swarmed them, wearing headgear and wielding weapons. Clary felt her stomach turn and looked down to Alec. "Where is he!"

"I'm sorry." Alec whispered. "They… the radio… they knew where we were."

Clary felt all the air rush from her lungs: before anyone could stop her, she was turning on her heel and running back into the school. She heard someone yell her name as she pushed back through the front doors, trying to slip in with the cops: a strong arm wrapped around her waist without warning, and screamed.

"Clary, stop, it's me, I've got you." Came Jace's shaking voice. Clary choked on a sob, clawing at his arm.

"Let go of me!" She yelled, kicking against him: he wrapped her tighter to his chest and dragged her from the doors, lifting her off her feet. She struggled against him. "Jace, get the fuck off me!"

"You need to stop!" He responded in her ear, and hot tears spilled from her eyes.

"Please." She said through a mouthful of tears. "Please, I have to get him…. I have to get him…"

She went stiff as they heard gunshots, and Clary let Jace pull her further back towards the lines of police, the ambulances. She couldn't breathe.

There was shouting, wailing from both people and cars, and Clary felt her knees give out. Jace held onto her as she sank to the ground, kneeling with her, and three more stretchers were brought out. She caught a glimpse of the first stretcher's occupant and let out a gasp, using Jace's moment of calm against him as she pushed him away and stumbled to her feet, moving with only one purpose and falling against the gurney. She ignored the two armed police that tried to shove her away, and threw herself against Simon. She let out a sob at his pale face, the smear of blood crusting in his hair and the dark patch spread across his shoulder. Her head dropped against his chest.

Then he grunted.

"Ouch."

For the hundredth time that day, time stopped. Clary gasped.

"Simon!" She choked. His face was deathly pale, almost translucent, but his eyes fluttered open at Clary's voice. His cold hand reached out for hers, and she watched in rapture as he gripped her hand.

"Hey short stuff. Pretty cool scar, right?" He wheezed, hissing. Clary laughed through her tears.

"You're so dumb." She sobbed, stroking his hair. He passed out again and Clary looked up in panic, finding herself once again ripped away from him as the paramedics reached them, taking him to the ambulance. One of the armed officers took her by the arm, leading her toward the ambulances.

She watched as Jace followed Isabelle into an ambulance. And that was the last thing she saw before passing out.


End file.
